History layers
Also said as Strata, Layered ruins, Deep time
A place that shows several past eras at once: a modern town on an older town on something older still, each leaving marks the next one built around.
Real places make no sense until you know what used to be there, and that is why they feel real. An oddity with a cause, like a street that bends for no reason, suggests a history you do not need to narrate.
Say it
“Give this town three layers. The market street bends because the old river did, the church is built on the old fort's foundation, and the well is older than both. Nothing needs a label.”
Where you’ve seen it
Breath of the Wild's Hyrule shows at least three ages at once: the abandoned towns from the Calamity 100 years ago, the Sheikah shrines from 10,000 years ago, and the villages people have rebuilt since.
Not to be confused with timeline
A timeline lists what happened. Layers are what is left of it, sitting where the player can touch it.